Phoenie looked down at her notes, scratched her head and looked up at the ceiling, as she always did when digesting facts and figures through that logical brain of hers.

“Kat, are you sure you should be indulging in Mr Orpheus’s fantasies?”

Katrina stopped her search and counted to ten in her head. “It would add up if he was right, wouldn’t it?” she said.

“Well, maybe,” said Phoenie, “It’s just that, well, you know… Mr Orpheus is borderline schizophrenic. He really should see a specialist.”

“He’s not a schizo!” snapped Katrina. She took a few more deep breaths and calmed down, thankful Phoenie was used to her sudden outbursts. “I’m not sure what I remember is right myself. The past few months are so hazy, like I’ve been stuck in some kind of weird dream.”

Phoenie stood and looked at her reflection in the window overlooking the courtyard. Endangered species of plants sat swaying in the autumn wind, while birds chirped from atop houses lodged in the branches of small trees.

“Well, I guess my notes haven’t been adding up for a while…” she said, playing with the single braid of hair she kept running down the side of her face. “I was thinking…” she turned to face Katrina, “Maybe Ms. Celeste could help us? According to my notes, she’s a psychic? I guess that explains why…”

“What were you planning to do about that, anyway?” asked Katrina. She knew Phoenie all too well: there was no way she’d sit idly by while a fellow student suffered Godhand’s interrogation.

The editor cast a sad eye towards the piles of paperwork on her desk. “That’s why I was looking through stuff,” she said, “I figured that, if Phantasia was arrested for heresy, I’d have heard something about what she actually did ‘wrong’.”

“Nothing?”

Phoenie shook her head. “Not a thing. It’s starting to give me a migraine, and I’ve run out of coffee.” She bundled her files into her shoulder bag and shuffled over to the door. “I’ll be back in five. I’m going to grab a coffee and see if John’s around.”

Katrina continued to rummage through the files, searching for any clues as to the auragraphs’ existence. The more she thought about things, the more Dante’s theories seemed true and as she looked through the files she began to notice things that had, for some reason, completely eluded her before. ‘Report on Suspected Vampire Activity’ by Andromeda Katsaros; ‘The Case of the Mysterious Dog of Unearthly Origin’ by Phoenie Rogan; and ‘Experiments with Auragraphy: Auragraphs of the Dead [WARNING: CONTAINS DISTURBING IMAGES]‘ by… Katrina Ritches?

She pulled the file out and was about to look inside when there was a knock at the door. Three knocks, to be precise. Veritas had a secret code, and that wasn’t it. Katrina placed the file on a desk and crept towards the door. Three more knocks. She reached out towards Kit, wanting the familiar feel of his fur to calm her nerves. Before her fingers could even brush it, the door burst open behind her.

***

Chapter 15
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